Reversible Flirty Apron

                   

                              

I have been wanting to make the flirty apron by the dating divas for a long time but have not been inspired enough to take the time to sew one until now with my small group, a sweet bunch of women who enjoy celebrating each other!  With one of the birthdays this week being for a gal in our group who is particularly mind blowing creative and is always baking and hosting, this apron tutorial popped in my mind!  She is always doing special, amazing, creative thoughtful thing for others.  I followed the apron tutorial pretty closely the only change I made was that I made it reversible with coordinating fabric on the reverse side and used the fabric from each side as the pocket fabric on the opposite side and I changed the pocket shape on one side for variety and added some Rick rack instead of the pocket ruffle.  This friend has dark hair and looks great in jewel tones and I think green and dark blue look great on her so I scoured Joanne's and had a couple other options picked out that were okay and once I had settled on some other fabric, I got lucky and after thinking I had seen everything, found these fabrics on my way to the cutting counter which I had missed! So glad my 3 year old distracted me or I wouldn't have seen them.  

Here is the original tutorial by the dating divas. http://www.thedatingdivas.com/flirty-apron-tutorial/

Here are some pictures of the apron process as I followed the instructions and added the reversible detail.

Pre washed and dried fabric

Pattern cut out with contractor paper I have.  My friend is taller so I added an inch in length to the dimensions given in the tutorial.

Fold fabric in half and line up pattern on fold and cut out two coordinating aprons.

A little note that my newly turned 7 year old dropped by after I let him have some of the fabric scraps to tie around his head like a ninja.

All the pieces cut out according the the dating divas tutorial with the addition of an extra apron and pocket.  I decided to switch it up and not do a ruffle on the pockets. One side is the rectangle pocket and the other side I cute it to be rounded and added the Rick rack detail along the top.  Also my fabric for the bottom ruffle was not long enough, so I cut out two strips and then sewed them together to get the needed length.  

Sewing the front pocket, I cut it out with the top on the fold of the fabric, then turned it right sides facing together and sewed around the open edges leaving a small section open on the lower right side so I could turn right side out,

Then it looked like this. I ironed it out and folded in the open edges to match the seam and ironed it flat 

The. I ironed the Rick rack o. And wrapped around the edges, and pressed with the iron. This is temporary and doesn't hold it but it held it in place enough to sew it on.

Then did the same process with the rectangle pocket for the reverse side of apron.  Cut on folded fabric and top of pocket is the folded edge and then sewed around raw adages and left an opening to turn right side out.

To get the pocket placed right I folded the apron in half to find the center then lined up the pocket with the center and pinned it in place on only the top layer of fabric, then unfolded and pinned the other side down flat and top stitched around the sides and bottom of pockets.

Both pockets are now sewn onto the aprons.

Next, follow the instructions on the original tutorial by making the bottom ruffle.  Sew the neck strap and waist ties inside out leaving ends open and then turn right side out.

Carefully pin everything in place. The bottom ruffle will need a good amount of pins to keep the ruffle edge and apron edge lined up. This is all pretty much just following the if aging diva instructions so far.

But then...take your reversible apron and lay it face down on top of everything thou just pinned.  Carefully line up the edges especially along the bottom ruffle and pin everything good so it all stays in place.

Sew all the way around your apron leaving an opening on the side, make sure the opening isn't where any straps or Ruffles are attached.  You can see my opening below, it's below the waist strap and above the bottom ruffle.  Make sure to back stitch the when you start and finish and I also back stitched over the neck straps and waist ties to make it strong.

Carefully flip the whole apron right side out through that opening.

Now let's close the opening. Fold in the open edges to match the seam and press with iron.

Sew that opening shut but top stitching over the ironed seam you just did.  I did a small zig zag stitch and decided to keep going all the way around the apron for a little added detail.

And there it is side A

and side B

Such a fun sewing project!  I haven't been motivated to sew for a long time but this project got me excited to get it all out and make something.  The dating Divas did a great job with the tutorial.  I remember once buying an easy apron pattern and it was labeled quick n easy.  It took me like 8 hours because the patty was so confusing!  I would much rather use an on,one tutorial than a store bought pattern anytime possible.  And now you can take that great apron tutorial and make it reversible! Double the fun!

Here's a second reversible cute flirty apron

Painting the Outside Door

Well, our back door is technically a side door but it's the most used entrance to our house. Our house is brick but the side porch is all white look and I like the all white look, however between super alien green pollen and red dirt, nothing in Georgia stays very white for long around here!  This door was pretty beat up and needing a new coat of paint and for the past year I had envisioned a super dark navy blue almost black paint on it.  However when I got samples I ended up with like 50 shades of blue ranging from that super dark navy to light robins egg blue.  This color was in the mid-light range and an awesome friend who is much more decisive than me helped me narrow it down to a much more manageable decision.  Then I got my final opinion from my daughter and her buddy to decide between the final 2 paint colors.  This was not a time consuming project.  We did our homeschool in the morning and after lunch I started this project. The drying time takes the longest which was less than 2 hours and during that time I was doing laundry and playing with the kids.  Kind of instant gratification....that's my kind of DIY!

Here's a picture of the Opal Silk paint sample card with some of our eggs.

This color reminds me of my favorite blue-green eggs that my Easter egg layers leave me in their nest.  It's called Opal Silk by BEHR.  I bought a quart of exterior satin enamel (I didn't want a shiny glossy door) in the BEHR Primium Plus ULTRA Stain-Blocking Paint & Primer in One. Along with a small paint tray, small roller and 1 1/2 inch brush.

BEFORE:

This is after already going over it with an electric palm sander to smooth out and remove and marks, it cleaned the door pretty good.  I didn't sand in the molding, just whatever I could get with the palm sander.  Then I panicked and though maybe I should leave the door white after wanting to paint it for over a year...but I decided to ignore the self-doubt and hurry up and do it! 😅

I pinned up plastic to keep the door clean while working but I ended up taking it down because my cats were driving me nuts pouncing on it and making it fall down.  It's still winter, but we had a warm day in the 60s and I didn't have to worry about bugs landing on the wet paint so I ended up tearing the plastic down before even getting to painting.  But it's a good idea if bugs are out to keep your paint job from getting messed up. I placed a piece of cardboard under the door to work on and keep my hardwood floors clean.

I removed the handle and deadbolt and taped around the glass window frames, I didn't have painters tape and just used white masking tape.

I think I was supposed to remove hardware before sanding but it didn't really matter.  Just make sure to really wipe down the door nice and good to remove any dust before painting.

I looked up on Lowes how to paint a front door and it's pretty straightforward and did not take long. Less than an hour and I only painted the exterior face of the door.  I figured if I liked it I could later paint the entire door if I wanted to have that cute color on the inside as well. https://www.lowes.com/projects/paint-stain-and-wallpaper/paint-wooden-front-door/project

First stirred the paint and poured into my small paint tray. Starting with my paint brush, I painted the small wooden cross sections that separate the 4 window panes and the inside trim around that area.

Then using paintbrush, painted the mounding on the bottom half of the door.  (Photos taken after)

Using the small paint roller, I then applied paint over the 2 front panels that are part of the mounding on the bottom half, then before it dried, lightly dragged my paintbrush down virtically following the natural grain of the wood to leave natural paint brush marks.  

Bottom of door you can see the wood grain/paint is vertical in middle and then cut off by a seam created when you go across horizontally on the bottom of door.

Next, use the paint roller across the middle section of the door and then did the same thing, lightly pulled the paint brush across to smooth and leave the lines going horizontally following the grain of the wood. And repeated that method along the very top of the door above the window.

You can see the paint brush marks creating the grain after using the paint roller. This is along the long outside sections of the door that go top to bottom.

Last I used the paint roller down both sides of the door from top to bottom and then again, went over with the paintbrush leaving vertical lines following the grain of the wood from top to bottom.  I didn't end up taping the sides of the door with tape because with the paint roller it went on so clean and did not wrap around the edges at all.  Just be careful when going over with the paintbrush to not flick the sides, but if you do, you can quickly wipe any unwanted paint off with a damp rag. 

See how I did not paint the outside edges of the door.

I got some paint on that little piece of weather stripping on the bottom so I just painted the whole thing...looks better anyways because it was stained the Georgia red clay color and looked dirty once I actually noticed it.

I let it dry for 1-2 hours with door left open and then applied a second coat, repeating the steps above which did not take long, 45 minutes at most. The paint was dry within 1-2 hours and I just left the door open the rest of the day even though it was dry before shutting it.

I carefully removed the tape on the Windows, peeling it off pulling at an angle towards the inside of the window.  If you pull the tape off without cautions sometimes if the paint is still a little soft, it can pull of the paint around the edges of the tape.  There were a few spots of paint that got on the window but I just quickly scratched it off with my fingernail.

  It's been a few days now and still looks great :). I went to Charleston with my daughter for the weekend for a gymnastics meet and the hubby text me saying how good the door looks and that I should paint the door on our screen porch that color and our basement doors too! I'm not sure if I'll do that or just leave it to this one cheerful pop of color but we'll see. 

Sunny afternoon

Rainy afternoon

I painted this the day before going to Charleston and with this color on my mind, I was loving this house on rainbow row that I had to snap a picture of.  Maybe I will paint this someday!  Blue green turquoise love going on!!!!

Pea Gravel Courtyard Patio Makeover

BEFORE

It was a weedy mud pit that just always looked like a mess, and the small concrete patio that was by the doors was pretty stained and not looking too attractive either.  I love the look and sound of pea gravel underfoot AND it's a lot cheaper, easier, faster and more forgiving for a DIY patio than most other options.  I do love flagstone and beautiful hardscaping, but I LOVE the charm of the pea gravel so it was an easy route to go.  The pavers that line the pea gravel patio were reused from the messy, weedy ugly path that was going through this area.  There were lining the path and it was filled with large jagged white rock.

After 2 truckloads of deco pea gravel was dumped on our driveway...

AFTER

Less than 24 hours later, Tyler and I had laid out landscape cover and he wheelbarrow-ed down all 2.5 tons of gravel himself!  Still need to do some things down there, it's pretty bare but we love the look down there so much better!